According to one source, Shanghai Daily, Patton was on the scene at a six-car pile up in the Jiading District of Shanghai. One car, a small Sedan, was completely wrecked and trapped under a container truck. Photos posted to Weibo show the bare-chested Patton helping local rescuers:

One witness to the accident wrote about it on Weibo, "I saw the foreigner squatting outside the car when I got stuck on the jammed expressway. [Patton] kept talking to the injured passengers in the car and tried to keep them conscious."

Shanghai Daily reports that Patton was trained in basic rescue operation, especially involving car crashes, and was trying to stop the victims' bleeding. He is believed to have injured his own arm while helping others.

Reports of Patton's good deeds have spread on Weibo, and he is being praised online for his heroism. The former firefighter is only the most recent foreigner to go viral for kind actions, however — one notable case involved Jason Loose, an American college student studying in China who was photographed giving away McDonald's to a homeless person and became known as "french fry brother."